DEICIDE's Booking Agency Says It Was Misinformed About GLEN BENTON's Arrival In Europe

DEICIDE's European booking agency, Massive Music, has issued a statement explaining that it was "misinformed" by the group's record label, Earache Records, regarding the exact date when the band's frontman, Glen Benton, would be joining the group's in-progress European tour. Although Massive announced earlier in the week that Benton would be appearing with DEICIDE at the group's January 13 concert in Paris, France, Benton was nowhere to be found at last night's gig, according to fan postings on the VS-Webzine.com web site. (Check out a few pictures taken at the Paris show by going to this location.)

Massive Music's brand-new statement, dated January 14, 2007, reads as follows:

"We are truly sorry to inform you that we have been misinformed again concerning Glen Benton's arrival for the DEICIDE tour. Our previous announcement was based on the information we received from Earache Records. We were assured that DEICIDE's leader had settled his problems in the States and that he would be re-joining the band in London (Jan. 12) or Paris (Jan. 13). As it is now apparent, this turned out not to be the case.

"We wish to apologize to all interested parties for the ongoing disinformation but we have precisely no influence on DEICIDE's personal problems.

"As a concert agency, we undertook to organize DEICIDE's tour and rebuild the band's reputation, which had seriously suffered after several cancelled tours. We were assured that the entire band would arrive in Europe. We purchased air tickets for all band members, produced merchandise, and booked 26 dates in some of Europe's best venues with the best promotion. One day before the commencement of the tour we were informed that the band's leader could not come due to family problems. Together with the band, we decided to begin the tour and wait for Glen's arrival at his earliest convenience. We could have cancelled the entire tour but the financial losses to all parties would have been more than significant. At the same time, however, bearing in mind the situation we allowed the individual venues to choose whether they wanted to host the tour or withdraw without any losses to the venue. As a concert agency we were open to all solutions.

"So far, all of the 9 (nine) planned dates have taken place and gathered some 4,000 fans. Ultimately, it is them who decides. If DEICIDE as a band wishes to cancel the remaining dates, we will respect their decision. We can only hope you can understand our situation as a tour organizer. We can also hope that you consider the fact that the tour continues without Glen Benton a success, rather than a failure."

A number of photos from DEICIDE's headlining show in London Friday night (January 12) can be found here (courtesy of Pete Woods). Filling in on vocals at the London gig were Garbaty "Yaha" (DISSENTER),Jason Peppiatt (PSYCROPTIC),Martin Pedersen (VISCERAL BLEEDING) and Solomon J Lucifer Christ (TED MAUL).

As previously reported, Seth van Loo (SEVERE TORTURE, NOX, CENTURION) handled the vocal duties for the first four dates of DEICIDE's European tour.